What is Bluehill Central?
Bluehill Central is a software tool that is used to optimize the management of a laboratory’s materials testing systems, including users, settings, results analysis, and centralizing file storage, through a client/server architecture.
Instron introduced Bluehill Central in January 2022 for integration with systems using Bluehill Universal testing software.
What was the inspiration for creating Bluehill Central?
Behind all Instron products are the laboratory managers, test engineers, and operators that use our testing equipment every day. Instron is continuously working with end users to discover opportunities to optimize their laboratory operations.
Regarding laboratory management, Instron software users have historically managed files and settings in local environments isolated to each system’s computer.
Managing settings, users, method templates, and results at each machine separately creates a lot of repetitive work when a user needs to make a change. Thus, by connecting all systems into a network of shared data, labs operate more efficiently and reduce the risk of improper testing.
Image credit: Instron
What is the importance of a lab management application for materials testing?
In terms of materials testing, localized management of individual testing systems used to be a necessary evil filled with inefficiencies. A networked, server-based management software tool simplifies lab management and allows organizations to save time and improve their quality processes.
What are some of the challenges in lab management, and how does Bluehill Central help tackle these to benefit labs?
Keeping track of the template files used to control the system and calculate material properties can be a nightmare. This is especially true for laboratories with multiple testing systems.
Making copies of files and sharing them via email or USB drives wastes time and makes it difficult to ensure that the latest version of the correct template is selected when running a test. The consequences of invalid testing can be severe, especially in production or quality assurance environments.
Another challenge is that system users and their permissions are traditionally localized, meaning that if an employee joins the lab or their role changes, their permissions must be meticulously modified at each system.
Bluehill Central centralizes testing templates, results, and settings on a Microsoft SQL Server database. This seamlessly shares templates to all connected systems and allows lab managers to configure settings and analyze results from anywhere uniformly.
Image credit: Instron
What are the advantages of centralized remote management?
The system enables lab managers to monitor testing and configure settings of any connected testing system worldwide from the comfort of their desk – whether in their lab, the office, or at home.
Bluehill Central also allows lab managers to remotely manage Instron files and users, perform statistical process control (SPC) analysis of results, and oversee general usage of their testing systems in an audit trail.
There are also elements of the application that clients may not have encountered before. For example, previously, a user had to wait for a reviewer’s approval before being able to a change a file. Now, however, email notifications can be sent to alert users that a change is pending review.
How easy is the tool to use?
Once the server is up and running, the Bluehill Central application gets installed on your computer, allowing you to log in and start managing your team remotely. Connecting existing Instron systems to the database takes just a few minutes on the latest version of Bluehill Universal.
Have you had any feedback from labs that have employed Bluehill Central? What were their thoughts on the system?
Bluehill Central has been endorsed by several early adopters throughout their organizations. Lab managers and engineers value the easy access to files and data, whether in front of the test system or at their desks.
Quality teams have been praised by leadership for improving their testing process and reducing risk while making the lab more efficient, and IT teams are thankful for client/server data management as opposed to localized computers.
Image credit: Instron
How could Bluehill Central be improved in the future?
There are clear paths for new, high-value capabilities within Bluehill Central. The Lab Management module was initially released as the file system for the database. In the future, Instron’s software team is excited to introduce system monitoring and utilization features, adding another level of remote visibility of testing operations.
If you could tell lab managers one thing to encourage them to switch to Bluehill Central, what would that be?
If you are looking for ways to simplify the management of your Instron testing, get in touch with your local Instron sales representative about Bluehill Central. Your Quality and IT teams will thank you.
About the speaker
Dan Caesar has a Mechanical Engineering degree and MBA from Northeastern University. He joined Instron® in 2014, initially working as a Calibration Engineer before moving into an Application Engineer position where he worked directly with customer labs to help optimize their materials testing. In his current role, Dan serves as the Product Manager for all of Instron’s static testing software, including Bluehill® Universal, Bluehill Elements, and Bluehill Central.
This information has been sourced, reviewed and adapted from materials provided by Instron - USA.
For more information on this source, please visit Instron - USA.
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